Why does the change of a number, 2018 to 2019, feel like a chance to take another try at things that have eluded us in the past? After all, every day, every moment, we have the chance to make different decisions, to live more fully, to wake up a bit more. But there is something about a new year that feels different…

2018 was a hard year. Midway through I had already dubbed it “The Great Scouring,” when assumptions I’d had were challenged, when my most cherished dreams were upended, and when everything I thought I knew was on the table. To be honest, I am glad it’s January 2019, and not 2018.

And yet…

2018 taught me that my worth isn’t measured in dollar signs. It taught me that the fate of the world is not just in my hands, but in the hands of a human collective worldwide that is working to bring true justice, unity, and dignity to all life. It taught me that in the face of corruption, cynicism, violence, and extremism, there are people of goodwill who will not back down. It taught me that doing something for love is, in the end, the only real reason to do something. Love transforms. It lights the darkness. It is the underlying purpose of life, running through the length of our days like an underground river.

Yes, every day I can make choices. Every day, I can wake up a little more. But now, at the break of a new year, I consciously choose to live more fully in each moment, to let go of trying to control the future, to be here, now. I consciously choose to reject the many messages of society which teach me that I am not enough. I choose love.